Gaurdian Angel
by Sapphyre Blu
Summary: She will always look out for her friends...No matter what Short story please review


Everything had gone normal that day: as normal as anything can go for Mutant X that is. The Dominion had ordered Mutant X to hunt down a man by the name of Elijah Bradley. Bradley was selling a virus that could only kill new mutants. Jesse and Lexa stayed in Sanctuary hunting him down. Brennan and Shalimar had gone to track him by foot. Brennan and Shalimar captured him with relative ease. Bradley was only 5'6 and fairly skinny. It only took Shalimar a few swift kicks to knock him unconscious and apprehend him. A normal day: that should have been the giveaway that something bad was going to happen. 

It started at two o'clock in the morning when Brennan was awoken by his dehydrated mouth. Brennan slowly started walking to the kitchen on his way he passed Shalimar's room and heard her whimpering in her sleep. Brennan figured Shalimar was having a nightmare, so he went into her room to wake her up. Brennan turned on her light and stared at her sleeping figure. Shalimar was sleeping on her side facing away from Brennan. Her golden curls were spread all over the bed and her lips were twitching with each whimper. Brennan went to grab her shoulder. Before his hand even reached her, he could feel heat ascending from her body. Brennan put his hand on her hot shoulder and shook her awake. Shalimar turned over on her back with a heavy thump and moaned her protest. It was only then that Brennan realized how pale she looked. 

"Shalimar?" Brennan called, putting his hand on her burning forehead. "Shalimar, open your eyes and tell me what's wrong," Brennan said firmly.

            Shalimar opened her eyes and looked at him distantly. 

"Brennan, I'm cold," she said softly.

"No sweetie, you have a high fever," Brennan rubbed her forehead, "C'mon," he said and picked her up easily. 

            Brennan brought her to the lab and laid her on the chair.

"Shalimar, I'll be right back," Brennan said stroking her cheek. 

"No don't go," Shalimar cried.

Brennan leaned over and kissed Shalimar on the head. 

"Shut your eyes and count to thirty, I'll be back before you can even miss me."

            Shalimar closed her eyes, but Brennan doubted she was coherent enough to count. Brennan ran to Jesse room and yanked him out of bed. Under those circumstances anybody else would have been upset, but Jesse was worried. Jesse knew Brennan well enough to know that the only way Brennan would wake him up in the middle of the night was in case of an emergency. 

"I need your help," Brennan said and pulled a half-staggering Jesse along. 

            When Jesse entered the lab it didn't take much to see how bad off Shalimar was. Whatever grogginess or tiredness he felt instantly disappeared. 

"What happened to her?" Jesse asked urgently while running over to his friend.

"I heard her crying in her sleep," Brennan explained, "When I went to wake her up I felt how hot she is." 

"Okay," Jesse said, "Check her temperature, I'll check her pulse." 

            "104.7," Brennan said after taking the thermometer out of Shalimar's ear. 

Jesse came to Shalimar's side with a watch and a stethoscope. Jesse took Shalimar's wrist and went to find her pulse point, but instead he found a puncture mark. 

"Oh no," was all Jesse could manage to say.

"Jesse what's wrong?" Brennan demanded. 

"Brennan, did Elijah Bradley grab Shalimar's wrist?"

"Only to fight her away," Brennan said, "but Shalimar did a windmill with her hand and threw him back." 

Brennan stared at Jesse's panicked eyes searching for an explanation.

 "I think Bradley injected her with the virus we were trying to get from him." 

            Jesse held up Shalimar's wrist and showed Brennan where the injection was made. Brennan looked at Shalimar calculating his next move. 

"We better wake Lexa up. I think we need help from the Dominion."

            Jesse nodded in agreement and ran off. He ran to the hallway and entered Lexa's room. Lexa's room was small and perfectly clean. She always left some sort of light on because she and darkness didn't get along too well. Jesse ran to her side and called her name loud. That was all it ever took to wake Lexa Pierce. Lexa sat straight up and awaited an explanation for Jesse's intrusion. 

"Shalimar is really sick. We think Bradley infected her with the virus."

            Lexa jumped out of bed and ran to the lab with Jesse by her side. When she entered, she saw Brennan cooling off Shal's face with a washcloth. Shalimar's eyes were open, but they were pale and glazed over. Lexa came to Shalimar's side. Shalimar looked at her for a second, and then looked at Brennan, before shutting her eyes. Jesse went over and showed Lexa the puncture mark on Shalimar's wrist. The puncture mark was beginning to develop a rash around it. 

            "Jesse, get the Helix ready. I'll call the Dominion." 

            Lexa ran to a computer console and called her contacts. A portly old man with a long beard answered her call. 

"We think Bradley infected Shalimar with the virus while she was apprehending him," Lexa said, getting straight to the point.

"Seven other people have been infected," her contact, informed her, "we have scientists working around the clock trying to find a cure." 

"Good to hear," Lexa said agitated, "now what do we do with Shalimar?" 

"Bring her to Dr. Marx. Send Brennan and Jesse to find the empty vile which had the virus in it. We can find a cure faster if we knew exactly what was injected into her." 

"Okay, thanks," Lexa said and turned off the computer.

            Lexa ran back to the lab and motioned for Brennan to come to the Helix. Brennan picked up Shalimar, and they both ran out to the hangar. 

Dr. Marx office was small, but cozy. Lexa wasn't sure the exact reasons for being with Dr. Marx instead of at the Dominion's underground. At that point Lexa had no other choice, but to trust the Dominion. Lexa looked up at Dr. Marx as he drew blood from Shalimar. Dr. Marx was an old man in his late fifties or early sixties. He had white hair with a white beard and mustache. His face looked so caring he could be anybody's grandfather. Dr. Marx took Shal's blood and looked at it under a microscope.         

Shalimar began to squirm and whimper in her chair. Lexa took a cool cloth and put it gently on her blonde friend's forehead. Shalimar woke up from the surprise of the cold sensation. Lexa firmly held Shalimar's forearm so that she wouldn't jump up. Shalimar stayed put, but stared intensely at Lexa's blue eyes. 

"Who are you?" Shalimar asked confused and a little bit afraid 

"You don't remember me?" Lexa asked concerned.

Shalimar stopped and thought about it for a minute, "should I?" she finally asked.

Shalimar could see the hurt look in the black haired woman's eyes. "I'm sorry," Shal apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Lexa said putting the cloth on Shalimar's cheek. "Just close your eyes," Lexa suggested                                                                                                                                              Shalimar did as she was told without needing any more encouragement. 

            "I think the virus is affecting her central nervous system," Lexa said to the doctor, who was within earshot.

"You're probably right," Dr. Marx confirmed, "come over here and look at this," he said to her. 

Lexa looked into Dr. Marx's microscope. "What exactly am I looking at," she asked.

"Do you see what the virus is attacking?" Dr. Marx asked.

"Yeah, her blood," Lexa answered.

Dr. Marx turned up the power of the microscope. 

"Now more specifically, do you see what it's attacking?" 

"Her new mutant DNA. My God! Look how fast they're multiplying," Lexa said with both astonishment and worry.

"I know," Dr. Marx said, "at the rate they're going Shalimar doesn't have over three hours." 

            Lexa inwardly cringed at what small time limit Shal had been given. 

Lexa heard Shalimar moaning again, and walked back over to her side. Shalimar once again looked up at Lexa, but there was still no recognition in her eyes. At the same time Shalimar wasn't afraid that she was in a new room with people she didn't know. 

"I don't feel so good," she told Lexa.

"I know," Lexa said compassionately. 

"Where's Adam? He usually takes care of me."

"He's not here right now, okay?" Lexa asked rubbing Shal's arm.

Shalimar grunted a little bit and closed her eyes. 

"Can we give her something to bring down her fever?" Lexa asked.

"I don't want to give her any drugs just yet. If the Dominion finds an anti virus, the fever reducers could affect her results."

                        Lexa looked up at the doctor; he was staring intently at the microscope. His forehead was creased and his lips were moving fast.

                        "You're on to something aren't you?" Lexa asked

"Lexa, I don't think Brennan and Jesse should be looking for the vile. I think they should be interrogating Bradley." 

"What are you talking about?" Lexa asked determined.

"This virus isn't organic. It's a microscopic machine that can reproduce itself," Dr. Marx said intrigued, "It's ignoring everything else in her body except for the new mutant DNA. The virus was specifically programmed to only eliminate the mutant DNA." 

"What can Bradley do?" Lexa asked.

"If he created it he probably has the abort codes."

"I'm going to use your computer," Lexa told him not asked.

                        Brennan and Jesse had searched nearly every inch of the alley, but there was still no sign of the vile. The boys were about to head out behind the alley when Lexa called them on the com. rings. 

"You guys, I just uploaded a location the Dominion wants to meet you in. We think Bradley might have the cure they want your help interrogating him."

"On our way," Brennan said.

                        When Brennan and Jesse entered the abandoned building, they could see why the Dominion chose that place. It was dimly lit, rat infested, and freezing cold. Jesse thought that if he were locked in there he'd confess to anything. After the men entered the room the prisoner was being held in, it wasn't long until Bradley was knocked to the floor by a violent backhand from one of his guards. 

"Hey!" Brennan shouted and threw the guard off of Bradley. "That's not going to get us anywhere," he scolded.

                        "Alright hot shot you take over," The guard said.

Brennan went over to Bradley and helped him get back on the chair. 

"Elijah, we need the abort codes," Brennan said wasting no time.

"I'm not falling for your good cop bad cop routine," Bradley states angrily. 

"This isn't good cop bad cop. This is just one desperate man wanting to save his friend." 

"Save your friend from what?" Bradley yelled, his green eyes boring into Brennan's "I just saved her life."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Brennan asked.

"I programmed the micro bots to only eliminate her new mutant DNA. They can multiply themselves at a rapid speed to get the job done more efficiently."

"Elijah it's your micro bots that are killing her," Jesse informs him. "Her body thinks they are a virus, so her fever is increasing to the point where her body will shut down, or she'll get brain damage. Even if she's strong enough to fight the fever her DNA will breakdown without her new mutant DNA." 

"No, no, it's her DNA that's killing her," Bradley argues.

"New mutant DNA is like a double edged sword. Without it she'll die instantly. With it she has the possibility of dying earlier than she was ever supposed to," Jesse explains.

                        Bradley turned ten shades paler. His hands began shaking. He looked up and stared Jesse directly in the eyes.

"I gave my son the micro bots," he choked out. 

"You programmed the micro bots," Jesse said, "You can shut them down can't you?" 

"Take me to my lab. I created a different set of micro bots to initiate a self-destruct code. But please you have to get it to my son as soon as you can." 

"Alright," Brennan promised as the guard yanked Bradley to his feet.

"Lexa we got a cure. Just have Shal hang in there a few more minutes," Jesse called over his ring.

"Got it," Lexa's voice responded.

                        Lexa walked over to her friend and took a seat beside her. 

"Shalimar, Brennan and Jesse found a cure. You just need to hang in there a few more minutes."

Lexa moved Shalimar's hair out of her face. Shalimar opened her tear filled eyes and turned to Lexa. 

                        "Shalimar what's wrong?" Lexa asked, wiping the tears that were falling from Shalimar's eyes.

"You're Lexa?" Shalimar cried out.

"You remember me?" Lexa asked hopefully.

Shalimar shook her head. "She told me this would happen."

"Who?"

"Emma," Shalimar choked. "We were watching scary movies on Halloween. The movie was so phony Emma fell asleep on the couch. She was having a nightmare, so I went over and woke her up. She started crying, and hugged me tightly. I asked her what was wrong but she was too choked up to tell me. I went to the kitchen and got her some water. After she drank it she calmed down. 

'She said she saw me and I was sick. She said she couldn't get to me because she was dead." The last sentence made Shalimar sob hard. "But she told me it was okay, because Lexa was there and she was taking care of me. She said there was also a doctor with a kind face." Shalimar slowly turned and faced Dr. Marx for the first time. Dr. Marx was actively listening to Shalimar's story. Shalimar turned her head back to Lexa. "Emma said my fever was so high I started having convulsions. She said it was all right because Brennan and Jesse had arrived just as I calmed down. Brennan was holding a vile with something light blue inside, but he tripped over Jesse. The vile broke and I died in your arms."

                        Shalimar looked up at Lexa. Lexa's face was a mixture of grief and anxiety. Lexa was on the brink of tears, but trying not to make it obvious. Shalimar couldn't continue her stare. The tiredness overwhelmed her too much. 

                        "Shalimar!" Lexa called as Shalimar shut her eyes. 

                        Lexa grasped Shalimar's upper arm. Shalimar's muscles went from relaxed to tense in the matter of seconds. All at once Shalimar's body stiffened then went into convulsions. Dr. Marx got up and brought over a gadget that held Shalimar's tongue down, so that she wouldn't swallow it. The seizure didn't last long, only a minute at most. Shal calmed down, but her breathing remained labored. Dr. Marx took a few steps back wondering what was going on. Both Lexa and Dr. Marx stared at each other in shock. 

Footsteps were soon heard running fast down the hall. Brennan came in alongside Jesse. Jesse turned to get to Lexa; Brennan went straight to go to the doctor. Brennan's foot interlocked with Jesse. Before Brennan had a chance to respond he fell forward into Dr. Marx's awaiting arms. Lexa reached over and grabbed the vile from Brennan. Everybody took a couple seconds to collect themselves. Lexa gave Dr. Marx the vile. Dr Marx filled a syringe and injected Shalimar in the arm. 

Everybody gathered around Shalimar. For some reason they expected it to be a miracle cure. After a minute, when she showed no signs of opening her eyes, Dr. Marx took her temperature and looked panic stricken. 

"We need to bring her body temperature down. There's a bathtub in the back room fill it with cool water," Dr. Marx looked at Brennan.

Brennan nodded and went to the back room. 

"Come on," Dr. Marx said after taking Shalimar's pulse.

                        Jesse picked her up and brought her to where Brennan was. 

"Put her down slowly," Dr. Marx ordered him. "Anything too sudden will cause her body to go into shock." 

Jesse did as he was told and put Shal in carefully feet first.

"NO," Shalimar cried out and held Jesse tightly. 

"It's okay. You're okay," Brennan assured her as Jesse put her body the rest of the way in. 

Dr. Marx kept his hand on Shalimar's pulse point. Jesse got Shalimar's back into the water, but kept his arm under her neck so she wouldn't go all the way in. Brennan cupped his hands and let water drip over Shalimar's head. Shalimar's body relaxed and soon went limp.

"Shalimar!" The doctor yelled as soon as she was completely limp.

                        Dr. Marx didn't need to tell them Shalimar stopped breathing, they already knew. Dr. Marx kept his hand on her wrist until he couldn't feel her pulse anymore. After Dr. Marx dropped Shalimar's wrist everybody stopped breathing. Nobody breathed for three seconds because it was on the third second that Shalimar took in a deep breath and her heart started again. Shalimar shivered from the cold of the water combined with the intense heat of her body. Jesse scoped her up to his chest and kissed her on the top of her head. Jesse sobbed softly, banishing all thoughts of what could have been. Jesse gently gave Shalimar to Brennan because he knew Brennan would snatch her any second if he didn't. Brennan happily accepted her and Jesse went off to be beside Lexa. Jesse took Lexa and stood in the corner of the room to give Shal some space. Lexa knees didn't hold out too long. Jesse sat her down and comforted her. Jesse wasn't sure when Dr. Marx had left, but he had just entered the room with a breathing apparatus for Shalimar. 

                        "Elijah's son is alright," Brennan informed Jesse outside Dr. Marx's office. "Apparently Shalimar was the only feral he tried to 'cure'. Her feral DNA made the virus speed up. Everybody survived," Jesse said relieved. 

                        "Glad to hear," Brennan said, "what is the Dominion going to do with him?" 

"They're having him work on micro bots that will attack cystic fibrosis or some other kind of diseases."

"Why?" Brennan asked, "So they can hold back the information until the world's ready for it?" 

                        Brennan and Jesse were trying to pass the time. They both had to wait in the waiting area since the room was too small to fit everybody in. Brennan, Jesse and Lexa were all visiting Shalimar in shifts. Dr. Marx insisted she stay until her fever was manageable. The team was on their second day of waiting. Shalimar's fever was still high, but it was dropping steadily. 

                        Lexa watched Shalimar as she awoke from a restless sleep. She had been drifting in and out of sleep for the past two days, but there was always someone there when she woke up. Lexa had only spoken to Shalimar a few times since she was awake. Shalimar wasn't coherent enough to make any sense. That day she was.

                        "Hey," Lexa said after Shal opened her eyes.

Shal looked at her and propped herself up better.

"I had the strangest dream a few nights ago," Shalimar said.

"Tell me about it," Lexa encouraged.

"I was floating in a completely black room. I wasn't afraid though. It felt safe and welcoming. Then I heard someone crying. I went over to see who it was. It was Emma. I ran over to her and hugged her. She hugged me back. Then she said the strangest thing. She asked me if I loved her. I told her of course I did. She said 'if you really love you will take a deep breath.' I took a deep breath. When I did I was cold and scared, but somebody was holding me. I'm not sure what happened after that," Shal confessed. 

                        Lexa stared down at Shalimar and smiled. She didn't know what to say. She really didn't have anything she wanted to say. 

                        Jesse came in. It was his turn to visit Shalimar. Jesse was happy to see her awake and rushed by her side. Shalimar smiled weakly at him. Lexa went over to him and squeezed his shoulder on the way out.

                        Lexa took off to meet Brennan in the waiting room so that they could go back to sanctuary. 

                        When Brennan was inside the kitchen making them both a sandwich, Lexa accessed sanctuary's database for surveillance images of the rec. room. Lexa looked up October 31st of last year. Lexa fast forwarded for about five minutes until she saw Shalimar and a tall girl who had to have been Emma. Emma lay down on a couch and Shalimar sat adjacent to her on a recliner. Lexa watched all the events unfold just as Shalimar had told her. She saw Emma begin to squirm and Shalimar eventually getting up to check on her. Emma woke up startled and stared at Shalimar for a long second then grabbed her in a tight embrace. She watched Shalimar working to calm her down after a minute Shalimar got up to go to the kitchen to get her some water. Lexa stared at the video of Emma. Emma was hugging herself tightly then slowly she turned around and looked directly at the surveillance camera. "Thank you," Emma mouthed out starring directly at Lexa. 

                        Lexa took in a deep ragged breath. She continued to stare at the young lady she had never met in a daze. Jesse and Shalimar (except for recently) never spoke about Emma. Brennan mentioned her on occasion if anything ever triggered his memory.  

                        Lexa was broken out of her daze when her swivel chair was physically turned around. Lexa looked deeply into Brennan's chocolate eyes. Brennan was crouched down in front of her with her hands on the sides of the chair for support. Lexa felt so overwhelmed and confused that she didn't notice she had started crying until Brennan wiped her cheeks. Brennan looked over at the tape Lexa had been watching. He saw Emma on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest, and Shalimar sitting next to her, talking to her visibly shaken friend. Brennan looked back at Lexa. Her jaw was trembling as she was trying to pick one of a thousand questions running through her head. 

"She knew," was the only thing Lexa could manage. 

"She knew a lot of things," Brennan said.

Lexa looked at him surprised. 

"I don't understand," Lexa said gaining back her control over her unruly emotions. "How could she have known about me? Or what would happen to her? And what would happen to Shalimar?" now the questions were starting to pour out.

                        Brennan put his hand on her wrist to calm her down.

"I don't know exactly when she gained her pre cognitive abilities," Brennan confessed. "All I remember is coming home late from a date one night. I started going to bed, but I realized she was hiding in the shadows. I pretended not to notice and went into my room. I came back out because I heard her running. She didn't see me she just ran to the hangar. I followed her quietly. She ran to the car I had just gotten home in and went under it. When she came back out she was holding a bomb. The bomb was set to go off in three minutes. She stared at the bomb and bit her lip so hard it bled. I came over and looked at it.  Jesse had been teaching me about bombs and how to deactivate them. Fortunately the one she had pulled out of my car was one of them on the list. I found the main frame and cut the right wire with my pocket knife. 

'I couldn't say anything I was too confused and almost as shaken up as she was. I sat beside her and pulled her away from the bomb. She was trembling badly so I held her. I looked at the bomb and analyzed it. It had enough C-4 in it to not only blow away sanctuary, but half of Storm King Mountains. I asked her how she knew. She said that she saw it happen in her dreams and ran out to prove herself it wasn't true. I started to call Adam on my com ring, but she stopped me and told me not to. She said she didn't want Adam to know. She told me she didn't want Jesse or Shalimar to know either because it would get back to Adam. She never told me why she didn't trust Adam, but I promised not to tell anyone about her powers, so I didn't. 

'It wasn't until after she died that I realized why she didn't tell Jesse or Shalimar. Both of them have a coping mechanism for when friends die; they try to forget about them unless they absolutely have to remember them. The only reason Shalimar was able to tell you is because the virus made her so disoriented that right now she thinks she's still living in sanctuary with Adam and Emma."

Brennan looked at Lexa. She had stopped crying, she had no more tears left.

"I don't get it. If she could see into the future why didn't she stop her own death?"

"I wondered that myself," Brennan confessed, "then I found this letter on my bed the same night she died."

Brennan pulled out a paper he had in his pocket and gave it to Lexa. Lexa read it quietly to herself. 

_Dear Brennan,_

_I know my death will come as a shock to you especially since you know the extent of my powers. Please let me explain myself. If I hadn't of died Lexa wouldn't have come. The people she works for (they call themselves the Dominion) had ordered my death three days prier to the explosion. The Dominion is very intelligent. They don't trust people who have more powers then they do control like me. The Dominion wasn't going to send Lexa to Mutant X until they knew that their only risk factor (me) was eliminated. The Dominion aren't bad people Brennan, but they have a tendency to get very afraid of things they can't control. With Lexa on your side you'll have someone to support Mutant X without Adam. _

_I know you're going to be angry at her, but trust me in time you'll be able to see why I made the difficult decision I had to. Lexa has a powerful spirit and good leadership. That will make her a good influence on Jesse. She also doesn't forget her friends when they die; she uses their memory to make her stronger. That will make her a good influence on Shalimar. In time you'll see why I had to choose her over me, but for now you'll still have to trust me._

_Take care of yourself Brennan and be good because I'll be watching over you._

_Your guardian angel,_

           Emma

A/N: I hope you liked the story. For anybody keeping up with my other stories I'm deleting Christmas Angels. It's scorching over here in California so it's too hard to imagine Christmas anymore. I'm very sorry for any of you who were waiting for the next chapter. As far as Genesis Prophets go I had a chapter almost finished and then my computer crashed so I am close to done rewriting the next chapter. Thank you so much for your patience and choosing to read my story. I love you.

-Sapphire 


End file.
